Château de Cazeneuve, Préchac, France

The Château de Cazeneuve was built along the gorges of the River Ciron and the stream of Honburens. The early castle was the former residence of the Kings of Navarre, the property of King Henry IV. It was built by Amanieu VII d'Albret on a rocky bank. It included in its enclosure the medieval mound of the 11th century preceded by a vast courtyard whose curtain walls protected the town.

Due to financial problems King Henry sold the castle in 1583. In the 17th century, the building underwent a major overhaul. The medieval castle was then transformed into a pleasant and ceremonial château. It has since been restored regularly. The castle still belongs to the Sabran-Pontevès family, descendants of the d'Albrets.

The site is made up of troglodyte caves under the castle and large underground medieval cellars. The old parts are the advanced fortifications and the moats. The buildings are a reconstruction dating from the 17th century. The royal apartments are period furnished.

The wooded park runs along the Ciron and includes the lake, the mill, the wash house and the bird island.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Adrigue le vert (3 years ago)
Informative. Excellent and very knowledgeable guides. Beautiful and relaxing surroundings.

Luc016 (4 years ago)
Pretty nice castle with a very big garden. Don't forget to come when the weather is nice, it's much better! To visit the interior, it has to be a guided visit so there is not the possibility to freely visit it. It is prohibited to take pictures inside which is why I am putting 4 stars. Not a very big castle but it's still something fairly nice.

Benjamin Stockman (4 years ago)
Castle with medieval roots and a history with the French royalty. Restored and well maintained by the current owners with a large selection of furniture from the different occupants.

Abdul Noor (4 years ago)
Nice find. Worth a visit.

Pete H (5 years ago)
Intetesting building in a lovely setting. The guided tour is in French but there are pamphlets in other languages to help. The guide was very helpful with limited English. The rooms are well decorated and furnished which makes for an intetesting tour. The garden and river walk are also worth visiting.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Roman Moško

Historic Site of the week

Trencín Castle

Trenčín Castle is relatively large renovated castle, towering on a steep limestone cliff directly above the city of Trenčín. It is a dominant feature not only of Trenčín, but also of the entire Považie region. The castle is a national monument.

History of the castle cliff dates back to the Roman Empire, what is proved by the inscription on the castle cliff proclaiming the victory of Roman legion against Germans in the year 179.

Today’s castle was probably built on the hill-fort. The first proven building on the hill was the Great Moravian rotunda from the 9th century and later there was a stone residential tower, which served to protect the Kingdom of Hungary and the western border. In the late 13th century the castle became a property of Palatine Matúš Csák, who became Mr. of Váh and Tatras.

Matúš Csák of Trenčín built a tower, still known as Matthew’s, which is a dominant determinant of the whole building.

Château de Cazeneuve

Address

Details

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historical Gems of Costa Verde

Historic Site of the week

Trencín Castle